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According to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle Houston Texans free agent offensive lineman Antoine Caldwell will be meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are in need of offensive line depth with Max Starks and Doug Legursky both free agents. So far this off-season the Steelers have re-signed Ramon Foster and are expected to start Marcus Gilbert, Mike Adams, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, and Foster on the line. They do, however, need to add depth behind the starting fives; especially with the Steelers offensive line’s recent injury issues.

Caldwell was a third round pick of the Texans in 2009. He played his college football at Alabama where he earned All-American honors. He was considered the third best center in the 2009 NFL Draft behind Eric Wood and Alex Mack. During his four year NFL career he has played in 39 games for the Texans and started 19 games. Caldwell can play both guard and center and could be a replacement for Legursky, who has been a back-up center and guard for the Steelers since 2008.

Legursky and Caldwell are the same age and same weight, but Caldwell is taller at 6’3″ (Legursky is 6’1″). Another important note about Caldwell is that he has played four years under Gary Kubiak’s offense in Houston and the Texans use a zone blocking scheme that Mike Shanahan made famous in Denver when Kubiak was the Broncos offensive coordinator.

Earlier this off-season the Steelers hired a new offensive line coach in Jack Bicknell Jr. who used the zone blocking scheme with the Kansas City Chiefs and has said he is planning on bringing it to Pittsburgh. The Steelers have used some zone blocking in the past, but it will likely become more common under Bicknell and Todd Haley who have both used zone blocking in the past with success.

Caldwell would be a low risk high reward signing and could help the Steelers lineman learn the zone blocking system quicker as he is well versed in it. Caldwell would also compete with Foster for the starting left guard spot and if he doesn’t win that job he would be the perfect option as a back-up to Pouncey at center as well as an option to back-up both guard positions.

Last year Caldwell was supposed to be the Texans starting right guard, but he had an injury plagued campaign and is looking for another shot elsewhere. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be the first team to visit with Caldwell so far in free agency and if he is willing to play on a one year contract for the minimum the Steelers are sure to be interested.